The Course

Starting at sun up from the Bell Tower of Jefferson, Iowa, seven runners and a van take on the diverse and scenic course as they make their way to a downtown Des Moines finish and post-race celebration by sun down. The 75 mile course is broken into 18 stages and a team finish with each runner taking on two to three stages. Stages range from about 3 to 5 miles on a mixture of bike trails, paved roads and gravel roads. You won’t want to miss this event that combines running in beautiful central Iowa landscapes, outrageous costumes, memorable van rides with your friends and a massive post-race shindig in downtown Des Moines. It all adds up to 1 unforgettable day.

Take a visual tour of the course.

Stages

Detour for 2019: Kicking off the day from the epic start line in Jefferson, runners head east on city streets before turning south onto the paved Raccoon River Valley Trail south. At the intersection of RRVT and Vest Street, make a left and an immediate right to follow Mulberry Street toward the exchange point. This exchange is named for after Jacob Winkleman, a nearby pioneer farmer.

Leaving Winkleman’s Switch, runners continue south on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point at Cooper, an unincorporated community in Greene County. Fun facts: In 1981 an international search to adopt the 51st citizen of Cooper landed residents on The Tonight Show Starring Johny Carson. The publicity that followed generated a crowd of nearly 12,500 people in the town for the weekend event.

Leaving Cooper, runners continue south on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point at Herndon, an unincorporated community in Guthrie County. Fun Fact: Herndon was laid out in 1881 and is the junction where the “North Loop” of the trail comes in from the east.

From Herndon, runners continue south on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point near the grain elevators in the small town of Yale. This stage has a slight uphill grade. Fun Fact: Frank Moore, class of 1942 at old Yle High School went onto Yale University, where he went on to be an instructor. He is the only known resident to go “Yale to Yale”.

From the exchange point on 190th Street, runners continue south on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point in the town of Panora. This short stage has a slight downhill grade. Panora has many services for teams near the exchange point including, grocery store, gas station and quick food options. Fun Fact: The curious name of Panora stems from early pioneers exclaiming, “What a beautiful Panorama!” upon viewing the site of the current town from a nearby hillside.

Leaving Panora, the topography and scenery begins to change. The trail becomes more tree lined and the terrain more hilly. This is a longer, but scenic stage. Runners will cross several paved and gravel roads as they slice southeast now towards the town of Linden and the next exchange point. Fun Fact: The town is named for its many linden trees.

Leaving Linden, continue to slice southeast towards the town of Redfield on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. This stage is slightly downhill and is a longer and very scenic section. Towards the end of the stage, the trail begins to parallel the Middle Racoon River. The exchange point is located a few blocks off of the main trail at Redfield Middle School.

At Redfield, the trail turns east toward Des Moines. On the way out of town be sure to notice the restored Redfield Depot. This stage is mostly flat. You will meet your teammates at the next exchange point called Kennedy Station in Dallas County. You wouldn’t know it today, but Kennedy Station was a thriving and prosperous community in the late 1800’s and boasted a post office, depot, grain elevator, lumberyard, stockyard and blacksmith. Today, just a depot sign marks the location. Check it out!

Leaving Kennedy Statioin, runners continue east on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point. This mostly tree line stage crosses Panther Creek and passes the local brick plant before arriving in Adel. Fun fact: Nile Kinnick, 1939 Heisman Trophy winner for the University of Iowa was from Adel.

Runners leave Adel headed east on the Raccoon River Valley Trail towards the next exchange point. Before leaving town, runners will deviate from the trail to the brick streets near the fabulous Dallas County Courthouse. Rejoining the trail, runners will cross the Raccoon River on via the Pratt Pony Truss bridge and continue their journey toward the exchange point at Ortonville. Fun Fact: Ortonville is named for the Orton Family, who owned a traveling circus that wintered in this area in the early 1900’s.

From Ortonville, runners make a beeline for the outskirts of Des Moines. This is the last pastoral stage and concludes in the heart of Waukee. This stage is mostly flat and is the last stage entirely on the wonderful Raccoon River Valley Trail.

Runners will head north out of the exchange point and snake through the local bike trails. At the one mile mark, runners will turn off of the trail/sidewalk adjacent to Bowman Drive and head north on the trail system. After passing Grant Ragan Elementary School, runners will cross Douglas Parkway and turn right (east) to follow the trail on the northside on Douglas Parkway. Runners will continue on the trail on the northside of Douglas Parkway until arriving at the exchange point.

Run eastbound on the trail north of Douglas Parkway. At about the 1.5 mile mark, runners will head north to access the Bob Layton Trail on-ramp and quickly turn left to head south on the Bob Layton Trail. Around the 3.5 mile marker, the trail goes under Hickman Rd. and runners continue east via the trail. Runners will cross 114th St to head south and make a short dash across a grass field to the exchange point on the east side of the Clive Aquatic Center Parking lot

Head north on the Clive Aquatic Center access trail out of the exchange point. After crossing the trail bridge over beautiful Walnut Creek, turn right (East) onto the Clive Greenbelt Trail. Follow the main Clive Greenbelt trail all the way to the exchange point.

From Windsor Heights, this continues on trail along Walnut Creek towards downtown Des Moines. Overall this stage is fast and flat. Runners take an up-hill spur towards the end of the stage to meet their next runner at Ashworth Park. Fun Fact: Ashworth Memorial Pool opened to the public in 1926 and originally had a sand deck and gas lamps.

From Ashworth Park, runners will dash downhill down the trail spur to rejoin the main Bill Riley Trail. They will soon enter Water Works Park, crossing over the Raccoon River Valley Trail and turning towards the exchange point near Gray’s Lake.

This is the final stage! Runners will navigate the trails along north shore of Gray’s Lake before rejoining the main Meredith Trail. Turning north, runners cross the Raccoon River, pass Principal Park stadium and make the final dash along the Des Moines River to the Team Finish. The finish line and golden dome of the Iowa State Capitol building are both well within view!

You did it! Welcome to Des Moines. Join your entire tam and make a sprint to the finish line on East 1st St. It’s now time to celebrate your accomplishment at the Post-Race Shindig in the Historic East Village. Congratulations!

Stage Difficulty Ratings

E= Easy EM= Easy Moderate M= Moderate MH= Moderate Hard H= Hard
Leg ratings are 90% based on elevation and surface and the remaining 10% is based on distance. Distance is rounded to the nearest tenth of a mile.